The Hero of Time's Goodbye
by Link's Lover
Summary: As Zelda watches her newly discovered love leave her, her heart is torn in two...until something completely unexpected occurs. One-shot fic.


Title: The Hero of Time's Goodbye  
  
Author: Katie, Link's Lover...  
  
Rating: PG-13 for tragedy, angst, one kiss  
  
Summary: As Zelda watches her newly discovered love leave her, her heart is torn in two...until something completely unexpected occurs  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Link. Time does. Oh and Nintendo too, I guess...grrr...  
  
Spoilers: Takes place at the end of Ocarina of Time  
  
Author's Note: After I played through Ocarina and watched the tragic ending, I decided that I needed to probe their parting a little deeper...this is my first Zelda fic so please be gentle!  
  
~*~  
  
Zelda stared at him, this green-clad man who had given her hope. Her very life he had saved; her soul, her mind, her kingdom, delivered in the hands of this blue-eyed warrior.  
  
And she had fallen in love with him.  
  
In his eyes there dwelled a flame: sparking an inferno with his fury; then, just as quickly, dying into a smoldering flicker, never to be extinguished. In them lay his kindness and his fierceness: strong and undying, undulating like his heartbeat. His heart: stout and loyal, loving and forgiving, overtaking her own; swelling to engulf it. She became lost in his eyes whenever his gaze fell upon her; and she saw in them time itself...stopped. Her heart was rent in two; broken, whenever she looked at him.  
  
Because she knew he had to leave.  
  
He had to return to his own time, to a time that was not yet tainted with the blackness and evil of Ganondorf's will. And she knew that he was not real. He was but an illusion; a reflection of the past personified. He had only come because his destiny required him to do so.  
  
She, on the other hand, was bound by her own fate. A fate that she could not allow him to be connected to. She would be forced to remain in her own time: a time with no past, present, or future. A time that would stand still until she, Zelda, heiress to the Hyrulian throne, rebuilt it.  
  
But he had a future. He had his whole life left to live; and she, despite her deepest sorrow, could not bring herself to take it away from him. It would have gnawed at her soul until it ate her alive: the realization that she had prevented him from living a happy life. Because she wanted him to be happy. It was all she could ever want.  
  
As she gazed into the pools of his eyes she saw eternity: an eternity that belonged to him; an eternity that she did not dwell in.  
  
And as she watched him raise the ocarina to his lips, her heart sank. A ragged sob tore from her throat unbidden, and she clapped a hand to her mouth, horrified. Her eyes filled: with sorrow, with love; she no longer knew. Tears flowed down her fair cheeks like torrents, carving out funnels of salty emotion; and she buried her face in her hands, attempting to conceal her outburst from him.  
  
As the last wavering notes of the ocarina died on the wind, the pipe hit the grass with a soft thud.  
  
He approached her, his eyes filled with concern, his sword and shield lying forgotten on the ground.  
  
She backed away, shaking her head, her anguish not yet clouding her thoughts. But he caught her arms in his strong hands, forcing her to look into his face; into his eyes. There she was astonished to find a mutual sorrow, and a spasm of emotion surged through her. She realized in that instant that his pain was as intense and acute as hers; as unrelenting and...unbearable.  
  
"...Link, I..." she began, choking back the tears, trying to find the words...but he stopped her: placing a finger to her lips, he shook his head. And then, in one swift, unexpected movement, he drew her in close to him and took her gently into his arms. Her breath caught in her throat and her heart skipped a beat as she looked up at him astonished.  
  
But he didn't allow her to speak. As the winds of time swirled around them, his lips met hers; and at that moment time stood still. In the silence her heart burst open and her tears poured down to moisten their lips. He held her, his heart beating as hers, lost forever in a crystalline fragment of time.  
  
And then, as suddenly as the moment had come, it was gone.   
  
He was gone.  
  
Zelda was left, the warmth of his love buried; her heart grown cold, she shivered with grief. Sinking to her knees, she sobbed uncontrollably; tears spilling from her eyes splashed onto her tunic.   
  
'Just let me die,' she thought desperately, 'If only to save me from this pain...'  
  
But then, as if to hearten her, the clouds parted and the sun shone forth, warming her skin. Looking up, realization and understanding struck her. Wiping her eyes, she stood, blinking from the sudden brightness, touching her lips in remembrance of his love. She realized then that he was there with her: in her eyes, in her tears; in her heart, beating alongside it; in every breath she took; in time itself, for eternity: his undying love would live.  
  
Taking a trembling step, she headed toward the castle: to a new life, a new beginning, to a time in which she would not waste one moment.  
  
Because she refused to lose any more of him than she already had.  
  
~*~  
  
Okay, so what so you think? Please review and let me know if I should keep writing! 


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